Aftermath

“You gave me your word! I warned you all of the dire consequences of a fusion bomb! Were the devastating consequences of the atomic bombs not enough for you?!” Bell slams his hands on the desk of president.

“Bell! Mind your manners!” The president’s aid implores.

“Manners? You’ve just set off a bomb powerful enough to wipe out half a continent! You were lucky the reaction ended, what if you doomed the entire planet because-”

“Bell!” The president yells. “It wasn’t us.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t us. We… we placed the bomb strategically in Europe. We’re not sure how, communication is difficult right now, but the bomb was used.”

“Who else knew about the bomb?”

“There… we believe there was a spy.”

“Dear god.” Bell sits on the couch and cackles.

“What is wrong with you? Have you lost your mind? Bell!” The aid yells.

“Hahaha, it’s coming.” Bell continues to cackle while burying his head in his hands.

“What is?” The president asked.

“Hah, retaliation.”

Secret service agents rush into the room. “Mr. President you must come with us immediately, we are leaving for shelter!” They yell as they grab the president.

“What is happening?!”

“A bomb.” Bell mutters. “They’re sending a bomb.”

The president is dragged out of the oval office. His eyes despondent, his mind blank, all he can hear is the cackles of Bell who remains in the oval office.

Eight years later

The war known as the Tear in History lasted two months. There was no surrender, no victory, only a loss of willing participants. Humanities technological advancement in the eight-year period since Bell joined classroom 102 was astonishing, but it also led to a war with unprecedented consequences.

“Can you hear me?” Bell speaks through a radio.

He sits at the edge of a forbidden zone – an area where different bombs and technology were used to an extent that left the area uninhabitable and toxic to enter without proper equipment such as special body suits. The area is a desolate, brown warzone. Old vehicles and weapons are scattered throughout, but even daring to touch the perimeter is dangerous.

Where Bell sits is 20 steps from the border, safe enough but the area is also nothing more than baron land.

I can… you.

“Good, good. Whatever seems salvageable is what we need. Technology, precious materials, even canned goods will work.”

You… 100…

“You will get your compensation. But you should focus on your safety. Some technology has regressed, your suit… hello?” No answer. “No!” Bell uses binoculars to search into the forbidden zone.

Deep inside, the figure of his hired man stands still and reaching for his throat. Bell drops his binoculars, another failure.

“How many lives must I take?”

With the failure, Bell has no option but to leave. Entering the zone to collect without proper protection is suicide, he has no equipment, not that he would trust any he could scrounge from garbage piles or traveling merchants.

Bell returns to a light train station about half an hour from his location. One of the technologies that remain from the fated generation, it continues to serve what is left of humanity ever after the Tear in History.

The train station is nothing more than a medium size building sitting in the middle of what was once a rest stop. Rest stops became popular during the years of human prosperity, now called the fated era. The building itself has roofing for protection from the elements, facilities inside, and the standard parking area for the train.

The area around the station is healthy, as much as can be in this era. Wildlife and plant life survive, but the skies are grey and old technology – vehicles, aircraft, food containers, even simple tools – are scattered on the broken roads.

The east bound train for zone 2 sector 12 will arrive in one minute.

“You outdid yourself, Akihiko. If you were here, I’m sure you’d have thought of something.”

A portal opens on the west side of the station. From within, a long, hovering train appears and stops at the station. 15 get off, 10 get on, Bell included.

The light train is one of the greatest inventions of the fated generation. A solution to travel, cost and ease. There are trains that travel cross continent, cross country, or across local areas such as towns and cities. Only continents remain from before the war.

Bell sits inside, the chairs comfortable, Akihiko took comfortability into great consideration when creating the trains.

Although the trains once generated great profit, they are now free to ride. There is no authority to charge for them. Because of fusion reactors set at key stations, the trains recharge there and share their charge with each station that have no reactor of their own. The energy is near infinite, the trains and station cared for by volunteers.

Only five minutes later, Bell arrives at his destination. He traveled a distance equal to what was once half of Italy.

Most surviving humans have built settlements near a station, their greatest source of resources being the trains after all. The settlements are nothing more than tents or homes made of metal and wood, comforts such as water or heat made by scavenging or natural methods as infrastructure of old were destroyed or contaminated.

Bell arrives at one such settlement. Most settlers gather near the center for daily rations, such has been the lifestyle since the war.

“It’s already dinner time.”

Bell makes his way to the center but stops as he bumps into a young girl attempting to make a music box work.

“May I?” Bell asked.

The young girl looks up and smiles at Bell. Most at the settlement know him as the kind man able to repair old technology – stoves, bikes, and much of what people can scrounge – but also a giving man.

The young girl wears tattered clothing, much like Bell’s. Her shirt is too big for her small frame, her pants have holes, and her toes poke out of her boots, but her warm smile is sincere.

Bell makes quick work of the broken music box, fixing the hand crank is simple enough for a mind like his. He turns it, allowing it to play its beautiful symphony. The young girl grabs it and stares at the center figure rotates, she too wishes to display such beauty one day.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Bell walks for his home, a small shack of sticks and metal sheet near the back of the settlement.

“Bell, no dinner?” An older man asked.

“Not today, thank you. Please, eat your fill.”

Failure rids Bell of hunger, his mind set only on his next plan.

The inside of Bell’s home holds only his bed and a table set next to it. Spare clothing is scattered in a corner, the only items of worth the stack of books on his table.

Bell reaches for one, his diary. He adds today’s failure, he nears the end of its pages with nothing but similar results as contents. Placing that book down, the next is one for solutions and plans, none which are feasible with the resources he holds now.

A sudden rush of anger fills his mind, Bell tosses his book into the pile of clothing in the corner. Throwing it at a wall would send the structure around him tumbling down.

“All these plans, all these ideas, I’m nothing more than an idealistic man in a world with little resources. The world is on the brink of failing and I can do nothing but watch. If I could just find one of you, I’m sure it would all change. We could all change it.”

A knock at the door brings Bell back from his thoughts. Many come to his home in need of help with the repairs of machines around the settlement, Bell never refuses.

“Yes?”

Bell is met by a woman he has never met before. She’s tall, thin but with good tone, and her clothes are well taken care of. Her long, brown hair is tied into a ponytail but still reaches down to her knees. Even Bell, who’s never found much interest in sexual relationships, finds her beautiful.

“May I help you?”

“Bell?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, I’ve no idea who you are.”

“Veronica.” She raises a small block like weapon and presses it against his chest. “No hard feelings.” With a click of the switch, Bell is tased unconscious.

Behind Veronica, two more woman of decent beauty walk in and grab Bell.

“This is the guy?”

“Si. Took long enough, but we’ve got our first head down. He’ll be the start; the rest can come later. Let’s go.”

They leave with Bell in tow. None of the settlement’s people make a move, another group women keep them far from Bell as they raise weapons. Boarding the train, they leave north of the settlement, the people of the settlement hopeless to even try and follow.